{
  "id": 355386,
  "title": "Phenotypes of painful TMDs and bruxism based on clinical, psychosocial and somatosensory features: a cluster analysis",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/08/09/phenotypes-of-painful-tmds-and-bruxism-based-on-clinical-psychosocial",
  "topic": "health",
  "section": "Health & Medicine",
  "published": "2026-08-09T00:00:00.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "Scientific Reports",
    "slug": "scientific-reports",
    "url": "https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-026-66215-8"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "This study sought to discover distinct pain profiles among individuals experiencing both bruxism and painful temporomandibular disorders (TMD). Researchers gathered data from 54 adult participants who self-reported and were clinically evaluated for these conditions. The participants underwent a standardized clinical examination, somatosensory testing, and completed questionnaires on pain, psychological factors, sleep quality, and central sensitization symptoms.\n\nUtilizing agglomerative hierarchical cluster analysis with Gower distance and Ward’s method, the data revealed two primary pain phenotypes. The first phenotype (n = 16) was characterized by localized pain, reduced psychosocial strain, superior sleep quality, higher pressure pain thresholds, and mild functional impairment. The second phenotype (n = 38) exhibited a more widespread sensitized pattern, marked by higher pain severity and duration, a greater number of painful body regions, mixed-type TMD pain, poorer sleep, heightened emotional distress, increased central sensitization-related symptoms, lower pressure pain thresholds, and greater functional limitations. Importantly, clinical bruxism behaviors did not differ between the clusters and thus did not influence the phenotypic distinctions.\n\nThe findings suggest a heterogeneous nature of pain mechanisms and symptom burdens among bruxers with painful TMD. By integrating clinical, psychosocial, and somatosensory dimensions, multidimensional phenotyping offers a framework for mechanism-oriented clinical reasoning and potential individualized management approaches. This research was partially funded by CAPES, CNPq, and FAPERGS, and was conducted following ethical guidelines.",
  "summary": "Scientific Reports, Published online: 09 August 2026; doi:10.1038/s41598-026-66215-8 Phenotypes of painful TMDs and bruxism based on clinical, psychosocial and somatosensory features: a cluster analysis",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}